Whole Foods CEO has enraged his target demographic with right-wing rhetoric(allspinzone.com)
allspinzone.com
Whole Foods CEO has enraged his target demographic with right-wing rhetoric
http://allspinzone.com/wp/2009/08/14/whole-foods-boycott-picks-up-steam/
I give him one week.
20 comments
"So, if you are a Whole Foods shopper, please consider honoring the boycott, at least for a short period of time. The impact will be very evident, and almost immediate."
I have a different idea.
If you are a liberal who shops at Whole Foods, and you read John Mackey's article with his ideas about health care reform, why don't you think about whether the solutions he's proposing -- and has successfully implemented among thousands of happy, healthy Whole Foods employees -- might be worth some serious consideration.
Instead of, you know, rejecting his free market ideas out-of-hand with insulting ad hominem attacks and threats of a hard-line ideological boycott.
Tolerance, civility, honest debate, etc.
Just sayin'.
Because Whole Foods has been amazingly successful as a company in recent years. And they do have thousands of employees. And I'm fairly sure that those employees like being able to keep the majority of their health care dollars, instead of having them thrown away on overly comprehensive health insurance policies they don't want or need.
I have a different idea.
If you are a liberal who shops at Whole Foods, and you read John Mackey's article with his ideas about health care reform, why don't you think about whether the solutions he's proposing -- and has successfully implemented among thousands of happy, healthy Whole Foods employees -- might be worth some serious consideration.
Instead of, you know, rejecting his free market ideas out-of-hand with insulting ad hominem attacks and threats of a hard-line ideological boycott.
Tolerance, civility, honest debate, etc.
Just sayin'.
Because Whole Foods has been amazingly successful as a company in recent years. And they do have thousands of employees. And I'm fairly sure that those employees like being able to keep the majority of their health care dollars, instead of having them thrown away on overly comprehensive health insurance policies they don't want or need.
Two points.
Firstly and most importantly thank you for keeping such a high standard of discourse. It's appreciated.
Secondly, many of Mackey's points are sound policy: health insurance should be universally deductable (or not) and HSAs may or may not be very effective.
However, others are disingenuous; all healthcare is rationed, in the US it's rationed by ability to pay whereas in Canada and the UK it's rationed by medical severity; food and shelter are already commonly provided by governments; the existence of faceless bureaucracies limiting care in traditional health insurance agencies and last but not least the Constitution's explicit disclaimer being treated as an exclusive list of rights to be guaranteed.
Most crucially in my view it entirely ignores the issue of insurers' ability to redefine their risk pools. What protection does Mackey's plan offer someone with a preexisting condition? Someone who develops a chronic and expensive condition? Someone who becomes unemployed? These are severely problematic use cases in the current system.
Firstly and most importantly thank you for keeping such a high standard of discourse. It's appreciated.
Secondly, many of Mackey's points are sound policy: health insurance should be universally deductable (or not) and HSAs may or may not be very effective.
However, others are disingenuous; all healthcare is rationed, in the US it's rationed by ability to pay whereas in Canada and the UK it's rationed by medical severity; food and shelter are already commonly provided by governments; the existence of faceless bureaucracies limiting care in traditional health insurance agencies and last but not least the Constitution's explicit disclaimer being treated as an exclusive list of rights to be guaranteed.
Most crucially in my view it entirely ignores the issue of insurers' ability to redefine their risk pools. What protection does Mackey's plan offer someone with a preexisting condition? Someone who develops a chronic and expensive condition? Someone who becomes unemployed? These are severely problematic use cases in the current system.
"being able to keep the majority of their health care dollars" is not grounded in reality. A friend of mine used to be a full-time Whole Foods employee, this is her story: http://www.metafilter.com/84093/This-organic-mustard-makes-m...
His numbers don't make a lot of sense to me. As I read it, there's a $2500 deductible and Whole Foods contributes $1800/yr to an account their employees can use to pay for care. This basically equates to a $700 deductible, no?
More like a childish rant.
I agree, with one correction: you do not have to be a liberal to shop at Whole Foods and to think whether the proposed solutions are worth consideration.
This split into conservatives and liberals, while sometimes meaningful, often hurts the debate. We can take each issue on its merits without referring to talking points, party lines, etc.
This split into conservatives and liberals, while sometimes meaningful, often hurts the debate. We can take each issue on its merits without referring to talking points, party lines, etc.
Last night my local news had a woman go on and explain why she doesn't like Obama's health plan. Turns out she didn't have health care herself. Next to her was attorney Geoffrey Feiger (millionaire) who explicitly told her that he wouldn't mind paying a little more to cover her health. Take this and Joe Wurzelbacher and it seems like it's actually the poor people against these progressive reforms designed to help them.
So why isn't the millionaire paying anything towards her insurance?
Well she actually said "why should you have to pay more" Which I thought was funny. I mean this just struck so much of a parallel with joe the plumber and warren buffet. On one hand is a guy who's not actually rich yet defending the right of the rich and on the other hand is an already rich guy telling you that you'll feel like it's only fair to give your money away once you're rich. Maybe they're refusing pity money, maybe they're being manipulated by the rich but not generous. Who knows?
What is so "right-wing" about Mackey's rhetoric? Is it assumed because he is a CEO? From what I'm reading, there's nothing much "right-wing" about it.
How is allowing consumers to purchase insurance across state lines right-wing? I can make the same argument for having an abortion instead of purchasing insurance.
Equalizing tax benefits for employer and individually purchased insurance? Who argues against that?
Price transparency? Tort reform? Tax deductible donations to the uninsured? Are you sure liberals are objecting to this?
Medicare reform is a pretty general statement.
The only position that can be considered "right-wing" is repeal government mandates for types of coverage.
Like the Congressmen that hasn't read their own bills, I have a feeling most boycotters haven't read the actual article. In this authors case, he seemed to skipped the most important part.
How is allowing consumers to purchase insurance across state lines right-wing? I can make the same argument for having an abortion instead of purchasing insurance.
Equalizing tax benefits for employer and individually purchased insurance? Who argues against that?
Price transparency? Tort reform? Tax deductible donations to the uninsured? Are you sure liberals are objecting to this?
Medicare reform is a pretty general statement.
The only position that can be considered "right-wing" is repeal government mandates for types of coverage.
Like the Congressmen that hasn't read their own bills, I have a feeling most boycotters haven't read the actual article. In this authors case, he seemed to skipped the most important part.
Yeah, I am not going to boycott Whole Foods over this. This is a store where many of the products sold didn't kill the earth while being produced, and where the employees are treated well enough to legitimately care about helping you out.
Things like that matter more to me than one guy's opinion column. (If he runs for President, though, I probably won't vote for him.)
Things like that matter more to me than one guy's opinion column. (If he runs for President, though, I probably won't vote for him.)
The blogger seems to be trying to drum up page views by using sensational rhetoric...
I did think it was a bit weird to see the Whole Foods CEO writing that particular op-ed.
BTW it should be noted that Whole Foods sells mostly fats, highly processed carbs, cheeses, and wines to people who pay more b/c they are convinced that the food is more nutritious just because it is organic, etc.
People who blindly follow Whole Foods' marketing are the same sort of people who will blindly support health care reform as it's evolved thusfar... the current proposals have no clear specifics, focus on "evil corporations", and do little to change the perverse incentives that exist in today's heavily regulated, heavily subsidized healthcare industry.... similarly most Whole Foods shoppers are fat and unhealthy.
If you are skeptical of my statement, consider that nobody has yet been able to write a hypothetical sad story about a loved one who would be worse off under universal care -- this is not because some people would not be worse off, but because insufficient specifics have been released to make such a hypothetical story possible.
I did think it was a bit weird to see the Whole Foods CEO writing that particular op-ed.
BTW it should be noted that Whole Foods sells mostly fats, highly processed carbs, cheeses, and wines to people who pay more b/c they are convinced that the food is more nutritious just because it is organic, etc.
People who blindly follow Whole Foods' marketing are the same sort of people who will blindly support health care reform as it's evolved thusfar... the current proposals have no clear specifics, focus on "evil corporations", and do little to change the perverse incentives that exist in today's heavily regulated, heavily subsidized healthcare industry.... similarly most Whole Foods shoppers are fat and unhealthy.
If you are skeptical of my statement, consider that nobody has yet been able to write a hypothetical sad story about a loved one who would be worse off under universal care -- this is not because some people would not be worse off, but because insufficient specifics have been released to make such a hypothetical story possible.
similarly most Whole Foods shoppers are fat and unhealthy
I am not sure I agree with this. At my local Whole Foods, the bike rack is usually filled with 30 or more bicycles. (Mostly employees, I assume, but I'm sure I'm not the only person that uses his bicycle for grocery shopping.) Inside, people seem to be thinner than the average shopper at Jewel down the street. (If you want highly-processed foods, that is where to find them -- everything is highly processed. So while Whole Foods may not be perfect, it's orders of magnitude better than "normal" grocery stores.)
I agree that Whole Foods has a lot of "unhealthy" food. If you eat nothing but steak, yeah, that's bad. But if you eat it once a month, it's better to buy a good one from a cow that was not pumped full of antibiotics and that ate what nature intended it to eat.
I am not sure that Whole Foods has a lot of "highly-processed carbs", though, so it would be good if you could clarify that. Sure, you can buy pasta there, but I consider that "minimally processed".
In addition to all that, they do have a lot of healthy food available that you can't find elsewhere. (I was happy to find some locally-grown peaches the other day. Fruit tastes good when it isn't shipped in from South America.)
So Whole Foods is not perfect, but like anything, it's a good tool. You can go there and get some great healthy food. Or you can go there and buy soda and cookies. It is up to you. (I am partial to some of their energy drinks. Not very healthy, but very delicious!)
I am not sure I agree with this. At my local Whole Foods, the bike rack is usually filled with 30 or more bicycles. (Mostly employees, I assume, but I'm sure I'm not the only person that uses his bicycle for grocery shopping.) Inside, people seem to be thinner than the average shopper at Jewel down the street. (If you want highly-processed foods, that is where to find them -- everything is highly processed. So while Whole Foods may not be perfect, it's orders of magnitude better than "normal" grocery stores.)
I agree that Whole Foods has a lot of "unhealthy" food. If you eat nothing but steak, yeah, that's bad. But if you eat it once a month, it's better to buy a good one from a cow that was not pumped full of antibiotics and that ate what nature intended it to eat.
I am not sure that Whole Foods has a lot of "highly-processed carbs", though, so it would be good if you could clarify that. Sure, you can buy pasta there, but I consider that "minimally processed".
In addition to all that, they do have a lot of healthy food available that you can't find elsewhere. (I was happy to find some locally-grown peaches the other day. Fruit tastes good when it isn't shipped in from South America.)
So Whole Foods is not perfect, but like anything, it's a good tool. You can go there and get some great healthy food. Or you can go there and buy soda and cookies. It is up to you. (I am partial to some of their energy drinks. Not very healthy, but very delicious!)
Maybe you guys should both get your anecdotes together and have them fight :)
hah... i'm ready for an anecdote deathmatch...
I do acknowledge that Whole Foods had great produce and offers a lot of healthy food that isn't sold at most grocery stores... but I suspect that Whole Foods' growth has been fueled by selling expensive junk food to the same people who would never have shopped at Whole Foods when it smelled like body odor inside.
I do acknowledge that Whole Foods had great produce and offers a lot of healthy food that isn't sold at most grocery stores... but I suspect that Whole Foods' growth has been fueled by selling expensive junk food to the same people who would never have shopped at Whole Foods when it smelled like body odor inside.
Interesting update: Mackey claims the Wall Street Journal changed his editorial to make seem anti-Obama.
http://www2.wholefoodsmarket.com/blogs/jmackey/2009/08/14/he...
After a quick read, I don't see any significant differences. This sounds like a desperate attempt to stop the boycott.
http://www2.wholefoodsmarket.com/blogs/jmackey/2009/08/14/he...
After a quick read, I don't see any significant differences. This sounds like a desperate attempt to stop the boycott.
it's a shame that the blogger provided inadequate summary of the article. at the same time, i found this very upsetting:
"This begins with the realization that every American adult is responsible for his or her own health."
the assumption that every american adult has complete control over his life is false. i don't even believe that this is approximately true -- especially when health care is the issue at hand.
"This begins with the realization that every American adult is responsible for his or her own health."
the assumption that every american adult has complete control over his life is false. i don't even believe that this is approximately true -- especially when health care is the issue at hand.
I’m making an educated guess that their average customer is very politically progressive in nature
You know, I've never even been to a Whole Foods, but I'm going to make a completely uneducated guess that your average Whole Foods shopper is a UMC, 30ish, former-hottie wife of a Lawyer/Doctor/businessman.
Did I guess right?
You know, I've never even been to a Whole Foods, but I'm going to make a completely uneducated guess that your average Whole Foods shopper is a UMC, 30ish, former-hottie wife of a Lawyer/Doctor/businessman.
Did I guess right?